Long before Hideo Nomo was making major league hitters look silly with an unorthodox windup and an unhittable forkball, or Ichiro Suzuki began rewriting the record books, pitcher Masanori Murakami was blazing the trail.

Murakami, 65, became the first Japanese to play in the majors when he made his debut for the San Francisco Giants at Shea Stadium in 1964 against the New York Mets.

The left-hander was recently honored for his accomplishment, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan and the Association for American Baseball Research on Sept. 1, 45 years to the day of his historic debut.